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Professor Amy Bruckman Joins Seven Other IC Faculty in CHI Academy

Wed, 02/21/2018

School of Interactive Computing Professor Amy Bruckman can still remember the first paper she ever presented at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI).

It was in 2001 when she was early in her time as a faculty member at Georgia Tech. Co-authored with Jason Ellis, the paper was titled Designing Palaver Tree Online: Supporting Social Roles in a Community of Oral History.

Now, 17 years later, Bruckman joins an ever-expanding list of Georgia Tech faculty that have earned entry into the CHI Academy. She was announced this month as a 2018 inductee into the prestigious group. She is one of eight who will be inducted this year, and she is the eighth Georgia Tech faculty member, all from the School of Interactive Computing, to join the group.

“It was such a big honor to have a single paper in CHI as a young researcher,” Bruckman said. “To be actually inducted into the CHI Academy is beyond words. All I can say is that I’m honored.”

Fellow IC Professors Beki Grinter and Jim Foley provided a nomination for Bruckman to the CHI Academy. In it, they highlighted the depth and breadth of her research in content creation for educational purposes, social computing, and examination of the adoption of online social systems in countries like Cuba. A second sustained emphasis of her research, the nomination said, highlights the ethical issues that affect our community.

“In this, not only has she demonstrated research excellence, but also a commitment to serving SIGCHI,” they wrote.

More than her own induction, Bruckman noted what it means to have Georgia Tech continuously recognized for its commitment to the field of human-computer interaction.

Georgia Tech has seen new members join the CHI Academy in five of the past six years. Professor Thad Starner was inducted in 2017, Professor John Stasko in 2016, Professor Keith Edwards in 2014, and Grinter in 2013. Before that recent run, Professors. Gregory Abowd and Beth Mynatt were inducted in back-to-back years in 2008-09. Professor Emeritus Jim Foley, who retired in December, was the first of a long line of successful researchers in 2001.

“My colleagues have been making an impact in the field for a long time,” Bruckman said. “It’s humbling to be added to that group.”

Grinter said that it’s been Georgia Tech’s commitment to human-computer interaction that has resulted in this kind of international recognition.

“We’ve been committed to a vision in which HCI plays a critical role,” Grinter said. “So, as we’ve recruited and retained key faculty over time, we’ve been recognized by the CHI Academy.”

Or, as Foley simply put it:

“Great faculty get recognized.”

Bruckman will be recognized at CHI 2018, which will be held on April 21-26 in Montréal, Canada.